The Millennium Brace
by Black Neko Gem
Summary: Yeah, it's been done, but give it a chance. An unfamiliar (or perhaps not so) girl moves to Domino from Egypt who possesses the power of an ancient priestess. Review! Minor yaoi RxB.
1. Chapter 1: Sakkira

The Millennium Brace  
  
Wow, my fourth story! I have now fully erupted into another 'writing' phase! Woo! ^_^  
  
Yami: I still can't believe I forgot ANOTHER 'eighth' Millennium item!!  
  
Shut up, I know there are heaps of these, but most of them are corny! Just like everyone else, I shall claim that mine is NOT! But honestly, I believe that mine is better than most.  
  
Yami: There are SEVEN and that is ALL!  
  
Yugi: Calm down, Yami, it's just a story, and after all, you should thank her. We've been in all her fics so far, and prominent in the first one! And not bashed once!  
  
Yami: So... if we're here, and we were prominent in the first story, then where is...  
  
Bradcorh: Hello Yami! Hello Yugi!  
  
Yugi: There he is...  
  
In case you haven't read The Magician's Mistress, Bradcorh is my Dark Magician. He is the only card I own that ended up having a name. Sup Bradcorh! *high five*  
  
Bradcorh: Hello Mistress! *looks down* Ooo. Another story! Am I in it?  
  
No, but you know me, I give the monsters prominent parts, because no one else does... *pats Bradcorh pityingly on the shoulder* It hurts, don't it? Don't worry, I still love you...  
  
Bradcorh: O.o ...ummm, Mistress, can this wait until I inexplicably turn chibi?  
  
NO! No Dark Magician chibis! They are flooding the world! You're staying just as you are, mister!  
  
Bradcorh: Okay, Mistress.... O_O;  
  
Eh heh heh... Bradcorh... can you be the disclaimer dude for us?  
  
Bradcorh: Eh? Oh, okay, I guess... *ahem* My mistress doesn't own Yugioh, or the game, but she does own me, her stories, and the lint in her pockets! And a really cool trenchcoat that goes down to her ankles! Woo!  
  
(By the way, my last story only had one disclaimer. That probably got people steamed up. I'm sorry about that.)  
  
Er... okay... byeh, just read. *shoves her weird monster away and begins to type*  
  
Oh, by the way....  
  
\potatoes\ hikari to yami (like Yugi to Yami)  
  
/potatoes/ yami to hikari (like Yami to Yugi... heh heh thought I'd give something away huh?)  
  
potatoes thinking to self  
  
"potatoes" talking  
  
No own, no sue. I know I said that already, but I like the phrase. ----------------------( (o) )---------------------------- ~It's a spoiler! Woo!  
  
Eight years ago...  
  
Rob Chandler, father to a nine-year-old girl and an archaeologist, was the discoverer of many tombs in the Valley of the Kings. (A/N: Yes, that is a real place, not just a made up thing in Yugioh. It exists because there isn't a pyramid for every pharaoh and pharaoh's cat ever born! *muahaha* The lesser pharaohs [the ones who didn't build giant statues of themselves... *cough-Ramses-cough*] were buried in the Valley of the Kings, and their wives *note the S; pharaohs wanted to make sure that there were heirs* had their own Valley of the Queens. Anyway, on with the story. Crap! I'm one sentence in the story, and we're off topic! Grrr...) He had studied the tomb of one nameless pharaoh, nearly 5,000 years old, when, alone one day in the tomb, he uncovered a smooth golden box with an inscription that roughly translated to: "The priestess resides within. Her body is gone, but her soul remains. The destined will be but a child, wtih hair of deepest ebony and eyes of two colors." He didn't understand it, but he took it "home" (to base camp with his daughter) and opened it. Inside was a silver bracelet, small but beautiful, silver and bearing a round charm in the center. The round part was emblazoned with a strange Egyptian eye. He found that if you unhooked it (which involved the watch-like face off one of its attachments), it was easier to put on. It was, however, still too small for anyone on the dig team, so he gave the artifact to his daughter Sakkira, who promised to be careful with it. She was a distortionist, which, to be blunt, meant that when she watched TV she sat with her knees propped up on her hands and her head to the floor, and so she could contract her knuckles to get it on. She wore it for eight years, oblivious to the ancient power it possessed.  
  
Her father was a Duel Monsters fan, and she herself liked the dragons. She didn't really pay much attention to the game, though, so even though she had a tattoo of the head of a Red Eyes Black Dragon on her forearm, and although everyone asked if she was a duelist, she didn't play.  
  
Little did she know, she was destined to play....  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------------- *Inside the Millennium Brace; the spirit's POV*  
  
Ahh.... it's so dark. It's so BORING! I'm going to pull my hair out from the pure frustration of it! I wonder what my hair looks like... holy Ra! I don't remember! I don't remember what I look like!  
  
Can I still remember anything else? Hmm.... *thinks, and puts out a random thought* I shall be loyal to the pharaoh until death's death... okay, so I do remember. But how in the seven... umm, what was I going to say?... anyway, how did I get here? And where is here? I feel so... weird. Okay, let's see, the pharaoh was saying something about how those Shadow Games everyone played were dangerous, and I remember agreeing, even though my Black Master was a dear friend of mine... (A/N: For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the Dark Magician was a priest at the time of this person's life, so they had Black Masters instead. Yes indeedy, I should not be allowed to make up names for monsters...) And then the pharaoh was locked away in the Puzzle of Time or something like that... was I locked away with him? I am his priestess, after all, and if he had actually died, they would have killed us six too, and buried us with the pharaoh in his tomb to serve him in the afterlife... but am I dead? If so, am I betraying my pharaoh? I wish I wasn't, but I don't think I have much choice...  
  
Hm? Something is... weird. It's like a pull. Has Ammit come for me?! Agh! Spare me! (A/N: Ammit is the Egyptian god that eats souls. One of Yami's greatest fears is him, and apparently, so is the priestess'.) Wait! It's not that kind of pull, it's like... destiny.... Am I going to be freed from this craphole and returned to my pharaoh? *waits.... and waits.... and waits* ....I guess not. Shame.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------------- *Back to third person*  
  
Today, on a plane in Egypt...  
  
She sat down in her seat and looked out her window, at the desert nation that had been her home since she was eleven. Her name was Sakkira, and she was seventeen years old. She loved Egypt; more importantly, she loved Giza, where she could all but embrace the majesty of the pyramids and the endless horizon. Despite her six years in Egypt's heat, she was very pale, and she loved black, which made her skin stand out even more.  
  
She brushed her long black hair (somplete with new cerulean highlights) out of her face, adjusted her brown headband, and fingered her bracelet. She had many bracelets, but the most beautiful one by far her father had given her when she was young. It was small, silver and bore an eye on the watch- like face. It was ancient; her father had found it in the tomb of a pharaoh whose name had been erased from the records. Ever since she had learned how to put it on, she never went anywhere without it, and let no one else touch it. It was silver, a rare metal in Egypt, and that made it all the more valuable to her.  
  
Her father sat down in the plane seat beside her and patted her sagging shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sakkira," he said sympathetically, looking into her multicolored eyes, which were red with specks of yellow. Dragon eyes, they were called. "but we need to move to Japan because there is a lull in the tomb discovery business, and I need a home for you when I go out on digs. I've never felt quite right leaving you in the camp while I go out to tombs and such. There's no knowing when I'll fall into a booby trap or something."  
  
Sakkira turned to the window. "It's okay, Daddy," she lied. This was a rare thing; Sakkira was the most honest person most people would ever meet. "Japan is... interesting." Even though were we are is nearly uninhabited, and where we're moving to, people have a limit on the number of children you can have, some part of her mind thought. Ever since she'd got her silver eye bracelet, it had seemed as if she'd shared her mind with another person. That person never made direct contact with Sakkira, but it sometimes made remarks that Sakkira knew were not her own. She tried to be as good a person as possible, but her semi-gothic clothing made it harder.  
  
The plane took off, and once Sakkira was able to free herself from the G forces, she took her last look at the great tombs of Giza. Goodbye, home, she thought.  
  
No one noticed the strange glow her bracelet was giving off....  
  
---------------------------( (o) )------------------------------- In Domino, Japan....  
  
Yugi and his friends ran with, or were carried by, the hordes of people rushing out the door to greet the last bell. School was over for the summer, and Yugi was immensely glad to have some time off.  
  
He'd found an extremely interesting thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle that he'd never had the time to work on... but now he'd have all the time in the world.  
  
When his grandfather picked him up in his pickup truck, Yugi smiled at him. (A/N: No pun intended with the truck thing.) "Nice last day?" the elderly Mutou asked.  
  
Yugi nodded. "It was cool. Joey didn't come though, in fact a lot of people I know didn't come."  
  
"Well, Yugi, a lot of people don't consider the last day worth going to," Grandpa said, going a bit faster now that they were on the open road. "You finally decide on your next puzzle?"  
  
"I sure did," Yugi replied, beaming. "It's really huge, and a thousand pieces, too. It looks pretty hard."  
  
"Nonsense, Yugi, you've been doing jigsaws since you were eight!" Grandpa said, boosting Yugi's ego just the slightest bit; anyone could always use some flattering. Yugi made a gesture with his hand as if to say, "Get outta here!" but he was still smiling.  
  
Their conversation went on like that until they came back to the Kame Game Shop. Yugi bounded inside, but came to a halt with the sound of his grandfather's call. "Yugi!" He turned his spiky head. (A/N: I just had to say that ^_^) "I got something for you on the way to your school!"  
  
Yugi came back to his grandfather's side. "What is it, Grandpa?" He was directed to the bed of his grandfather's pickup. "Did you get another new game?" He rummaged though the mail, with Grandpa watching while wearing a sly smile. He came upon his name, typed on the cover of a magazine. "Oh!" He looked the magazine over. "It's that puzzle catalog I used to be subscribed to! I remember now, you gave me a new subscription for my birthday!"  
  
"Forgot already?" Grandpa teased, ruffling Yugi's hair fondly.  
  
"Guess so..."  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- On the plane...  
  
"Flight attendants, prepare to land." The great metal airplane started to search for the landing strip it was assigned to. Sakkira, who had been sleeping, was gently shaken awake by her father.  
  
"Sakkira-chan," he said quietly, getting her used to the Japanese nickname, "we're almost there."  
  
Sakkira mumbled something about a pharaoh and turned away, curling up in her seat. Her father knew that would happen; Sakkira would have slept through the falling of the Sphinx if it happened to fall during one of her naps. (A/N: I just read over this and noticed that it sounds like the Sphinx already fell. No, people, no big stone cat falling here.) He began to gently tickle her; she finally stirred, squinting up at her father. "...Pharaoh?" she murmured, staring up at him with nearly-shut eyes.  
  
Sakkira's father arched an eyebrow. Why was she calling him a pharaoh? Her eyes opened fully and she looked around. "Oh. We're on the plane. So sorry, Daddy, I was having a strange dream."  
  
"No problem, Sakkira, but we're about to land. Put your drawing pad away." He handed her the pad she'd been using before she went to sleep, and she retrieved her bag from under her seat and stuffed the drawing pad inside.  
  
Sitting up, Sakkira looked out the window. There was a lot of ocean, but soon she could see a huge island. There were signs of overcrowding: obvious streets with too many lanes, big cities, clusters of lights. Night had fallen over the island a few hours ago, and most were asleep.  
  
As the pilot announced that they had reached their destination, Sakkira suddenly thought of Giza and how pleasant it was at night. The hulking silhouettes of the pyramids were a quiet and serene sight, and Sakkira's heart sank a little to think that she might never see them again. The pyramids seemed to tug at her, to call for her to return. It was a call Sakkira knew could not be answered.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- *Inside the Millennium Brace, from the spirit's POV*  
  
Sigh... hm? I don't know how I know, but I am absolutely sure that wherever I am is leaving Egypt. But Egypt is home! I have nowhere else to go! I really wish that I had my Black Master around.... he was a dear friend....  
  
What about the pharaoh? Is he okay? Did his soul get sealed in that strange Puzzle, or was he spared? I think my soul was not spared. I think I'm inside one of these Millennium items.... oh. Oh! I remember now. It looked like a bracelet. They all had that spooky Eye on them.... Yes, mine was different. It was like gold without its color....  
  
Will I ever get out of here? Who has my Brace? (I think that's what it was called....) Sigh.... it looks rather bleak....  
  
*Suddenly she gets a mental picture of a small, spiky-haired boy with an upside-down pyramid around his neck. Beside him, a spirit hovers. The spirit of the Millennium Brace doesn't get time to register the tall spirit's face before the scene changed to that of a silver-haired, innocent- looking boy, and beside him stood.... *  
  
Tomb Robber no baka! I'd know that face anywhere! And the boy's wearing the Millennium Ring! What.... HOLY RA!  
  
That means.... Tomb robber no baka was reincarnated! And now.... what strange spirits these Items chose....  
  
*The scene changes again, to a tan-skinned teen whom the spirit recognizes instantly.*  
  
Marik?!! Huh?! *Behind Marik stands his yami, who she does not recognize. (A/N: Note, I said 'she'.)*  
  
What is the purpose of all these images? Am I someone's.... *a certain word echoes through her mind.* ....yami? Do I have a hikari, too? And who was that kid? He looked like....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Bwahahahaha...  
  
Yami: Looked like.... who?  
  
O_O *stares at Yami*  
  
Yami: What?  
  
You mean even you couldn't even figure it out?  
  
Yami: Eh.... no.  
  
Well, if you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you.  
  
Yami: Aww, please?  
  
Nope.  
  
Yami: Crap!  
  
Yugi: I know! ^_^  
  
Yami: Tell me!  
  
Yugi: Just wait until the next chapter!  
  
Yami: THE NEXT CHAPTER?!!  
  
Yugi: Yep.  
  
Yami. .... ..... .... ...-_- Fine. *sulks*  
  
Er... okay then. Review please people! I love this story! (Because I've already written most of it!) Heh heh heh.... 


	2. Chapter 2: A New Item

Alright people, there is a certain girl I know (and her yami) who so graciously allowed me to "borrow" some lines from her fic, Musings of a Tomb Robber. So I think I should give credit where credit is due. ARGH! CORNY! GET IT OFF!!  
  
...Okay. I'm better now. *looks around* Bradcorh!  
  
Bradcorh: *appears out of nowhere* Yes mistress?  
  
O.O How'd you do that?  
  
Bradcorh: Do what, mistress?  
  
..Nevermind. Here, Bradcorh, *gives him a sheet of paper* read this.  
  
Bradcorh: *reads it* Okay, then, mistress.... that's nice. *gives paper back*  
  
-_- No Baka, read it OUT LOUD! *shoves paper back to Bradcorh* Ahem... please.  
  
Bradcorh: Um... alright then. *clears throat* My mistress does not own Yugioh, any characters except me, Sakkira, Sakkira's father, the Millennium Brace, and the spirit harboring it, and she most certainly does not own "Musings of a Tomb Robber" by TaleneisMyYami. But she does own this fic. All but those few certain lines, that is.... *reads some more* Oh. and she thanks 'Lady Moon' and Talene for letting her use those lines. She says that they expressed it so well, that she couldn't find any other way to do it. *gives paper back* There you go mistress. Is that all?  
  
Why don't you stay here and read with me?  
  
Bradcorh: *shrugs* Okay. *sits down in an armchair*  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- In Domino, Japan, in Yugi's room....  
  
Click. "This puzzle is really not as hard as I thought it would be, Yami." Click.  
  
That was the sound of Yugi putting together a new puzzle, Yami watching behind him.  
  
Click. "Yugi," the pharaoh said rather hesitantly, "....something is not right in the Puzzle...."  
  
Click. "What?" Yugi looked over his jigsaw, which was already quarter-done. "I don't see anything."  
  
"Not that puzzle, Yugi, my Puzzle," Yami said, jingling the chain around his neck for emphasis.  
  
Yugi looked down at his own physical Puzzle. "Looks fine to me."  
  
Yami became a little exasperated; whenever Yugi became engrossed in a game or puzzle, he was almost in a trance. He forgot anything he had been worrying about before. "I mean, inside the Puzzle."  
  
Still oblivious to Yami's real meaning, Yugi chipped off a small corner piece and squinted inside the Puzzle. "What do you mean?"  
  
"There is a disturbance in the... feel... of the Puzzle," Yami said, and something klunked hard into place. Yugi finally realized what Yami was talking about.  
  
"Ohhhh...." Yugi replaced the piece and looked at his dark. "Something's wrong with an Item?"  
  
"I believe so," Yami said quietly. "Or there is one we do not know about, coming to Japan for the first time."  
  
"You mean there may still be one left unknown?" Yugi put down his Puzzle, staring out the window as he realized the enormity of the problem. "What if there's something... evil... going on?"  
  
"That's what I've been saying." Yami's tone held no exasperation, but the pharaoh himself certainly felt it.  
  
"We need to find it," Yugi said, stating the obvious. "But how?"  
  
"I believe that it we follow the pull that I am feeling," Yami said, unsure, "then we may find it."  
  
"What are we waiting for, then?" Yugi started to get out of his chair, jigsaw forgotten.  
  
"Morning," Yami said sternly, although smiling. "It's your bedtime."  
  
"Ah... great. I won't be able to sleep with that... thing... going on!" Yugi threw down the jacket he'd started to put on, and went to his bedroom door. "I'm going to let Grandpa know that we're going somewhere tomorrow."  
  
"Good idea, Yugi. I'm going to go to bed." With that, Yami retreated to his soul room to rest.  
  
It would be hours before either of them actually slept.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------  
  
"Well, here we are!" Sakkira's father said happily the next morning as their car pulled into the driveway of their new house. It was a handsome house, two stories high and four bedrooms. The outside was bricked, and when they stepped inside with their luggage, sakkira's red-and-yellow eyes sparkled as she saw that the foyer's ceiling went all the way to the roof, and a huge, sparkling chandelier adorned it. The wooden floor of the hallway was a warm tone, and the dark green carpeting complemented it and the clean white walls. Sakkira loved to cook, and her heart flew when she saw the enormous kitchen, complete with microwave, two ovens and a dishwasher. The bathrooms were equally huge, with a bathtub that went into the ground and small pipes that could make the huge room steamy in a matter of minutes. With blue-tiled flooring and white walls, the many-mirrored bathroom was a place that Sakkira was sure to be found in for hours on end.  
  
All in all, the house was more inside than outside, and it was beautiful, at least compared to the sandy camps that Sakkira was used to. She barely remembered the house that they'd had in England, before her mother died and they moved to Egypt so her father could do his archaeology.  
  
"Wow, Daddy, this is amazing!" Sakkira said breathlessly, eyes still roaming.  
  
"And you haven't even seen your room yet!"  
  
"Oh, that's right!" Sakkira hurried off and up the stairs, searching for a bedroom to see. Her father chuckled, and went off to his own bedroom. "Sakkira," he called before she got all the way up the stairs, "you'll have to go to bed at 11, okay?"  
  
"Sure, no problem." Sakkira waved to him, and then reached the top of the staircase. Her father heard a pleased gasp reverbrate through the upper halls, and smiled to himself. Wait until she saw the black carpeting and red walls of her own room....  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- At Yugi's house....  
  
"Grandpa, we're going!" Yugi shouted as he opened the door to leave. His grandfather replied, although Yami couldn't hear it, and Yugi closed the door behind him. When they got to the end of their drive, Yugi stopped. "What now?" he asked Yami.  
  
The pharaoh paused, then said, "Yugi, let me take over for a while, so that I can get us there faster."  
  
"That sounds like a good idea," Yugi said. He surrendered control of his body to his dark. Yami took a few seconds to feel out the direction of the tug, and then started south.  
  
\This the way?\ Yugi asked through their mind link.  
  
/I'm pretty sure it is,/ Yami replied. They headed south for a while, and then turned west and headed into the city. He went on a winding path through sidewalks and alleyways, until he stopped. /The signal is very strong. I can't figure out where it is pointing anymore,/ he said, a little worried.  
  
\I have an idea,\ Yugi said. \Give me back control; I think I know where we are.\  
  
/Do you feel the pull?/  
  
\Yes, I do, and I think I know where it wants us to go.\  
  
/Alright then, Yugi, I trust you./ Yugi took over, and after a few seconds of getting used to being in control again, started to turn slowly. He concentrated only on the pull of the unknown Item, to feel when it grew the strongest. There! \I've got it,\ he said to Yami. The darker half gave him a thumbs-up and Yugi proceeded to head towards a tall brick house....  
  
He was about to ring the doorbell, when he suddenly stopped. \What am I supposed to say?\  
  
Yami was silent. /I.... don't know..../  
  
\Hmm.... how about we say we're her neighbors, and then we challenge her to a duel? Then we know if she plays or not.\ /Or, we could just ask her if she plays. After the neighbor thing, though./  
  
\That sounds good.\ (A/N: Eek! I really shouldn't have given the plan away. Oh well. Too late now.)  
  
He rang the doorbell. There was a shuffling of footsteps, then the wooden door opened. There was a young girl, wearing a tank-top belly shirt, and a small skirt. There were many bracelets along her arms, and she wore large knee-high boots. She looked down at Yugi. "Yes? Can I help you?"  
  
Yugi started, then coughed and said, "Er.... I'm the son of your new neighbors, and they sent me over to tell you hello, and..." he trailed off, Yami saying something through the mind link about Yugi being a terrible liar...  
  
"Why didn't they come themselves?" The girl's eyes were of two colors, red and yellow, boring into Yugi's amethyst orbs.  
  
"Um, well.... they are having a barbecue. An exclusive one," he added quickly, knowing she might ask to come too. "Oh yes. My big brother wanted me to ask you if you play Duel Monsters."  
  
/Good move,/ Yami said. /I take back the bad liar thing./  
  
"Well.... no, I don't play, but my father is a big fan." She showed him her left forearm, on which was tattooed the mighty head of a Red Eyes Black Dragon. Lower down on her arm, though, Yugi and Yami simultaneously caught sight of something much more important than a tattoo.  
  
Yugi gasped. When the girl's eyebrows arched, he erked and stood up straighter. "Er... that's nice. Excuse me, but could I see your bracelet?"  
  
"Which one?" the girl joked truthfully. (A/N: Isn't that an oxymoron?)  
  
Yugi pointed, and the girl pointed back, to one she wore near her wrist joint. "This one?" Yugi nodded, and the girl sat down on the front step, motioning Yugi to sit beside her. "Okay, but I'll have to take the rest of them off..." She began to strip her left arm of the many black bracelets, until there was only the one. It was silver, delicate-looking, and watch- like, with an Egyptian eye etched onto the face. "Guess you'll have to know my hobby to understand this next thing," she said. Yugi looked at her, confused. She went on. "I'm a distortionist," she said. "I can move my bones around in ways most can not. Watch," she finished, unhooking one hinge of the bracelet, and moving it up her arm. As it reached her hand, something strange happened. The very bones of her hand came together, contracting and bringing the fingers together until her hand would have fit inside a beer bottle. She easily slid it up and off her hand, and hooked the face back on. She didn't seem to notice the flash the Eye gave off as she handed it to Yugi. (A/N: The reason it flashes is because Yugi holds a Millennium item as well. Oops, another giveaway... *smacks face* Bad mouth! Traitor!)  
  
Yugi beheld it in wonder. It was obviously a Millennium item. "Where did you get this...?" he asked breathlessly.  
  
She shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing much. My father and I lived in Egypt for a while, 'cause my dad is an archaeologist, and he was working on tombs and stuff. He says he found this among the treasures of a nameless pharaoh whose mummy had disappeared. No one could wear it but me, though, because they were too big," she said casually.  
  
"Egypt?!!" Yugi asked, in wonder. The girl looked at him as if he had exploded.  
  
"Yeah.... what, are you from Egypt too? I was in Giza. You know, where the pyramids are. Man, I loved it there." She noticed his Puzzle, which was glowing slightly because Yami was feeling an intense emotion, in this case amazement. "Hey, what's that you've got around your neck?"  
  
"This?" Yugi asked, holding up his Puzzle. It was rather a stupid question, since that was the only thing around his neck, but the girl nodded. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle. What it does is a loooong story, one you'd understand better if you played."  
  
"Oh. Why is it glowing?"  
  
"Well, it's hard to explain, but I think the thing you've got here," he said, looking at the bracelet he held, "is a Millennium item, too." "Huh? I mean, I know it's old, but what is a Mill... er, what does it mean?"  
  
Yugi sighed. "Before I say anything, I need to know: how much do you know about Duel Monsters?"  
  
"Oh... well, I know the rules and stuff, but I don't play because I don't have any cards, and we were all saving for this move."  
  
"So you know how to play, right? And you've watched your dad or whoever duel?" She nodded, and Yugi smiled. "Good. That makes it a lot easier to explain. Do you know the origin of these monsters?" Yugi dug his deck out from his pocket, showing her his cards.  
  
"Er... someone named Peggy something, I think... Oh, you mean their ancient origins!" she added, when Yugi had obviously showed that that was not what he meant. "Yes, I know. My father worked in tombs, remember? So I got to see all the best stuff," she said happily, in the same tone one would use when referring to a heaping plate of bacon. If one likes bacon, of course.  
  
"Wow," Yugi said, awed, "I really would like to go there."  
  
"I got to see the legend of the pharaoh, the God Cards, blah blah blah..... all kinds of stuff like that." Her eyes were shining. "I loved Egypt... I really wish Daddy hadn't made me move... I'm moving back there someday."  
  
"That sounds like fun, but tell me their origins."  
  
The girl, who was barely older than Yugi, sighed. "Ho boy, here we go." She took a deep breath, and began. "Millennia ago, there were games in Egypt called the Shadow Games. No one really knows how they got started, but back then the monsters were real, and they came from a place called the Shadow Realm. It was not a good place to be if you weren't a monster, but when someone lost a Shadow Game, that was where they were sent. Then, a pharaoh who obviously had enemies-- his name was erased from the records-- saw that these Shadow Games were destroying the world, so he locked their power away, but he had to seal his and others' souls into strange items that no one on the dig team has found. There was... hmmm... I think there were seven: a round one, a scale, an upside-down pyramid, a key-looking thing, a rod, a thing that looked like a dreamcatcher, and a necklace. Keep in mind, though, these were only inscriptions that I saw on the stone. I couldn't really read it, but these guys could draw! I mean, they were artists!"  
  
"A really good inscription, though," she continued, looking at the boy who was staring at her in rapt awe, "was the one of the pharaoh and his cousin Seth. Seth had a big dragon coming out of a freaky-looking hole, and the pharaoh had a person in armor. It was my favorite one. I heard that everyone in this city can trace their origins to ancient Egypt, so we moved to Domino instead of anywhere else. That way I might feel a bit more at home."  
  
(here I had a picture of the ancient scriptures, but unfortunately no pics allowed, so blah.)  
  
(this is what I had under it.) The priest Seth (Atemu's cousin) and the pharaoh Atemu in what appears to be a Shadow Game. You can see the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician coming out of the Shadow Realm. I can't tell what Seth's other card is, but I see Gaia the Fierce Knight on the side. On the top there is a picture of the Millennium Puzzle, as well as what looks to be the other items. Bwahaha, but they're missing one, ne?  
  
This also means that Yugi and Seto Kaiba are cousins. (slight shudder) creepy... Note the resemblance of names: Seth- Seto. O_O  
  
"Well, it seems you know a lot more than most people," Yugi said after a long, awkward silence in which Yami was raving unintelligently about how could this girl know so much, she knows just as much as HE does....  
  
"Yeah... well, my dad does work in tombs and such," she said, shrugging.  
  
"What is your name, anyway?" Yugi asked.  
  
"My name is Sakkira," she said, smiling. "So you say this is a... Millennium, was it?... item? That's... weird. To think I've had it all this time, and not knowing what it was... okay, I still don't know. What do these thingies do?"  
  
Yugi looked at his Puzzle. "Perhaps someone can explain it better than I." He looked up. "Don't mind if I go away for a few minutes, do you?"  
  
"Er..." Sakkira didn't know quite what to say. "Guess.... not...."  
  
"Good. Hope you've seen a lot, because this is going to be strange." He smiled, and then did that corny thing where he screams "YUGIOH!!!!!!" and then transforms. (A/N: he he he....) Before Sakkira stood a taller person than the boy who had stood there a moment before. His eyes were narrowed, and his eyelashes long. Her mind immediately jumped to visions of people from her past. He's Egyptian! she thought, her mind working furiously. How had he done that? And why was her bracelet suddenly trembling and growing hot in her hands?  
  
"Hello, Sakkira." The boy, no, man, had a deeper voice than... the other one. "I am not the same person you've talked to, in case you're wondering."  
  
"Then..... who are you?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"I do not know my name, but I am a 5,000-year-old spirit who resides in the Millennium Puzzle." He brought up the Puzzle for emphasis. "I lived in Egypt, and there I ruled as pharaoh." He felt the need to explain no longer. Her eyes widened.  
  
"You're the nameless pharaoh who locked away the power of the shadows!!" she said, awestruck. He nodded.  
  
"As far as I know, that is true. Millennia inside of the Puzzle has erased most of my memory, but by Ra, you look so familiar...."  
  
"Umm... kay," she stuttered. "As far as I know, I'm not related to anyone you know, Pharaoh-san. I was born in England, I just moved to Egypt when I was eleven."  
  
"And there you found this," he said, holding up the silver bracelet. "I believe it is called the Millennium Brace. Most of these items has a spirit residing within them, just like I reside in the Puzzle." He held the Brace out for her to take back. She slowly took it, looking into the Eye in wonder. "Put it on." She obeyed, and looked at Yami for further instructions. "Just hold still... this may look a little scary, but it won't hurt." He held a hand over the face of her silver Item, and she looked at his crimson eyes. Who was this?  
  
Was it really the nameless pharaoh she'd heard so much about?  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- *Inside the Brace*  
  
What is going on?! The pharaoh? Is he here? It's so dark. I can't see.  
  
Ooo. A light. Wasn't there some rule or something that said to stay away from those kind of lights?  
  
It's so bright! Aghh! So bright! It hurts! Close eyes now. Okay. Eyes closed. Doesn't hurt anymore. Ahh.  
  
*Are you here?* A voice? So familiar. How to answer? Er....  
  
*Who are you?*  
  
*I am called Yami; who are you?*  
  
*My name is Nakte. I shall serve my pharaoh until death's death. Can I help you?* I almost wish my temple-trained mouth had not said these words so quickly...  
  
*No, but I can help you* Ahh!! The light, it's getting so big! Stay away! Can't run, too dark! Erghhh!!!!  
  
*Don't kill me with that!*  
  
*I can't kill you, you're already dead*  
  
*Dead? Is this the underworld? Where's the pharaoh? I must apologize for my belayed return, I--*  
  
I am cut off. *This is not the underworld, and the pharaoh...* He pauses. *You're talking to him.*  
  
*Pharaoh A--* I can't say any more. What the heck? *A.... A... eeee!! Pharaoh-sama! I have forgotten your name! How embarrassing! Please remind me. It must have been a long time since we've met*  
  
*Think it's embarrassing, do you? Try it when you are the pharaoh who has no name*  
  
I have...absolutely nothing to say. *Pharaoh-sama...?!!*  
  
*Yes?*  
  
*What shall I call you?*  
  
*You have two options: call me what my hikari calls me, 'Yami', or call me by the name of the body I share, 'Yugi' *  
  
Yugi? *Why would I call you a game?*  
  
*Just be quiet for a moment. I will explain everything later, just hold still*  
  
Eeee... the light! Make it go off! I've lived in this dark thingie for Ra knows how long! No reason to stop now!  
  
The light is enveloping me... Must... resist... erk! Too late, I think!  
  
Mm... it's warm in here. Huh? Warm? It's warm! And I haven't had a body in how long?! Oh. That's why it's dark. Eyes need to be opened. Yes. Opened now. Good. (A/N: I couldn't resist copying from 'Musings of a Tomb Robber'! It is such an excellent fic, and after all they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!)  
  
"...Pharaoh-sama?" Ahhhh!! The LIGHT!! "Ackk!! It's too... bright!!"  
  
The pharaoh's hard, strong voice cuts through the blinding pain. My eyes are watering. "Keep your eyes closed. You will get used to it." Get used to it?! This crap is worse than the glare of the Nile in the noonday sun!!  
  
Suddenly, there's a small voice in my head. \...Hello?\ A female voice. Sounds friendly. I try to answer.  
  
/Huh...?/  
  
\Can I have my body back?\ Little voice in my head.... small.... erghh, the light hurts...  
  
/I don't know how to give it back./ So, this isn't my body? Shame. Eh, feels too young to be me anyway...  
  
Eyes stopped watering. Better. I open my eyes, squinting at the pharaoh. "Where... are we?"  
  
"This is called Domino. The nation is called Japan."  
  
"I knew I wasn't in Egypt! Why have I left the banks of the Nile, Pharaoh- sama? Was I summoned?"  
  
"Nakte..." The pharaoh looks grim. Uh oh. "Five thousand years have passed. Everyone you know is dead now, and the body you are inhabiting at the moment is that of your reincarnation, Sakkira."  
  
"REINCARNATION?!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes indeedy. Gomen Lady Moon and Talene for the plagarism. -_- I tend to imitate people when I like what they do. (draw, write, etc.)  
  
Bradcorh: I don't think she will mind.  
  
Oh, you're still awake.  
  
Bradcorh: This was interesting! why would I sleep? Besides, I don't think I can sleep, unless the spike-haired boy and the pharaoh give me more of that turpentine-tasting potion... *sticks tongue out and makes the same face he made in TMM* Blech. It was disgusting. Never drink that stuff, mistress.  
  
Don't worry, I won't. anyway, Bradcorh, how do you like it so far?  
  
Bradcorh: This is good stuff, mistress! It gets funny too! *smiles*  
  
Bradcorh, just because I'm your mistress doesn't mean you have to lie.  
  
Bradcorh: I'm being honest! Honest to Ra!  
  
Alright then, but only because you are just so cute when you're trying to persuade me to believe you.  
  
Bradcorh: *looks put out* -_-  
  
Just kidding, Bradcorh! I believe you! *Bradcorh smiles.* Anyway, review! More up soon! (By the way, this fic will be much longer than TMM.)  
  
Bradcorh: Uh, hey, mistress.... Am I going to be in another story?  
  
Hmm... that's a good idea! Somebody give me a vague plot, and if I write it, I'll put your name in it somewhere! ^_^.... ^_^'....-_- No one's going to do it, huh Bradcorh?  
  
Bradcorh: To be perfectly honest, I don't really think so, mistress....  
  
Ah that's alright! if no one gives me a good idea, then I'll just cook up one of my own! How's that sound?  
  
Bradcorh: Sounds good to me.  
  
Alright then, people, remember to click the little blue button down there, and flames will be used to warm these frigid fingers! 


	3. Chapter 3: A Priestess Reborn

Alright people, this is the last full chapter I have to post automatically, so I might take a little longer to finish the chapters. *readers boo*  
  
Bradcorh: That's okay mistress, I'll help you some up with ideas.  
  
Aww, thak you Bradcorh. Isn't he sweet everyone? *hugs Bradcorh*  
  
Bradcorh: *uncomfortable at first, but then begins to like his mistress' warm embrace* ^_^  
  
Alright then. *releases Bradcorh* Let's do this. *puts on construction helmet* Dare I?  
  
Bradcorh: DO IT!  
  
*looks charged up* OKAY! LET'S GO!!!! *sits down calmly and types*  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- *Back to third person, rewound a little*  
  
Yami frowned, concentrating on the Brace. Sakkira sat very still, contemplating the feelings that ran through her like quicksilver. They were not hers. Whose were they? The pharaoh's?  
  
Suddenly it was like a wall in her mind just.... fell. There was something else, no someone else inhabiting her mind! How long had this person been there?  
  
She thought, well, if there's a person here, why not speak to it?  
  
\...Hello?\ It worked. She felt the part of her mind shared by the other person stir, just a little, and then she felt it. A blur of thoughts, and emotions, fear, confusion... it went on and on. The other person paused, and then tried to reply.  
  
/Huh....?/  
  
Sakkira noted the sound of the mind-voice. it's a she! she thought, her mind working furiously. Am I like that kid who turned into the pharaoh?  
  
Suddenly she felt an electric shock go through her body. She didn't see the physical change, but Yami saw that her cerulaen highlights flared up and became a semi-mohawk among the ebony hair that hung down in her face. The Red Eyes tattoo disappeared, to be replaced with a different tattoo, one of the crook and flail of Osiris. This tattoo was burned into the skin over her collarbone, and it meant that she was forever in the service of her pharaoh. Her skin became the slightest bit darker, and her eyes, which were already unusual, seemed to become negative. The main red part of her irises became yellow, while the formerly yellow specks became red. Lastly, as her eyes closed and the spirit of the Brace took total control, Yami noticed that the Eye on her Brace had become an English S. How odd....  
  
Sakkira, confused, tried to talk to her with the mind link again. \Can I have my body back?\  
  
The other didn't seem to understand what she meant. But, somehow, she couldn't move. Someone else was controlling her! Was the pharaoh doing it? Or was it this mysterious other who shared her mind?  
  
/I don't know how to give it back./ An honest answer. The spirit learned that she was in control now, and opened her eyes. She squinted at Yami for a moment, and then screwed her eyes shut in pain. She wailed out loud, something about how the light got much too bright, and Yami put a hand on her shoulder and comforted her. She stilled, although her hands remained over her face and her lips were drawn back in a grimace. "Keep your eyes closed," he said softly, as she calmed down. "You will get used to it."  
  
(A/N: I know, this paragraph was extremely confusing and thrown back and forth from points of view, but I had to do it in order to show how confusing it felt for Yami, Nakte and Sakkira. Especially Sakkira.)  
  
After a few moments, she slowly drew her hands back and opened her eyes cautiously. The first thing she did with her borrowed body was look around, and then she looked at Yami. She spoke. "Where.... are we?"  
  
"This is called Domino. The nation is called Japan." Yami was calm, as if nothing especially strange had happened.  
  
"I knew I wasn't in Egypt! Why have I left the banks of the Nile, Pharaoh- sama? Was I summoned?" Nakte asked, staring at the pharaoh even though age- old instincts scraemed at her to cast her gaze elsewhere. She knew, however, that he had no memory of her insubordination at the moment.  
  
"Nakte..." Yami said quietly, looking almost sad as he stared back at the bi-colored priestess. (A/N: Yes, that is what she is.) "Five thousand years have passed. Everyone you know is dead now, and the body you are inhabiting at the moment is that of your reincarnation, Sakkira."  
  
"REINCARNATION?!" she shrieked, scaring a bird out of its tree. "What do you mean, reincarnation?"  
  
Before he answered, she heard the girl who was her supposed reincarnation speak again to her. \It feels like you don't know I'm here, too,\ she said quietly, as if not to disturb Nakte. \I can see everything you see, and right now you are looking at the neighbors' houses.\  
  
/This is... confusing,/ Nakte said back to her. /I don't understand./ It was too short, Nakte felt. She probably sounded like she didn't want to know. On the contrary!  
  
\Neither do I, but I just want you to know that if you need help with this body or anything, I can probably help you,\ the younger girl said helpfully. What was her name? She searched her mind, and it came up easily. Nakte hoped that this Sakkira girl wouldn't let her read all her thoughts....  
  
"Nakte?" Yami said. Nakte looked back at him. "Are you talking to your hikari?"  
  
"Hikari?" Nakte said curiously. "What's that?"  
  
"Oh, you don't know." Yami blew a stray wisp of blond hair out of his face, and explained. "You and Sakkira are hikari and yami, better known as light and dark. You, Nakte, are her dark, and she is your light. One cannot exist without the other. So you better make friends with her, because you'll be with her from now on."  
  
Nakte had no idea what was going on. Oddly enough, she kind of felt Sakkira's equal confusion through some kind of link they had. "Are you... like this?"  
  
"Yes," the pharaoh said, not hesitating. "The boy you were speaking to earlier is my young hikari, and my reincarnation. His name is Yugi."  
  
"And that is why they call you.... Yami?"  
  
"Seems reasonable, right?" Yami asked. Nakte shrugged, glad for once that she'd forgotten almost nothing. "Although a lot of Yugi's friends just call me Yugi or 'big Yugi' even though they know. So don't always correct them when they call you Sakkira."  
  
\I would,\ the young girl-- her hikari-- said, almost to herself.  
  
"What... happened to my body?" Nakte asked, almost afraid to hear the answer but knowing she had to find out.  
  
"When your soul was sealed away in the Brace," the pharaoh began, gesturing towards Nakte's arm, "you left your body behind. Perhaps your hikari's father has found you somewhere."  
  
"They would have buried me with you, pharaoh-sama," Nakte said subtly.  
  
"What?" It suddenly struck Yami that this woman didn't just know his title, perhaps she'd known him. And so, perhaps she could hold the key to parts of his forgotten past... He knew that some celestial force had wiped his name from her memory, but nothing could keep his image from her. She had belonged to him, and she thought she still did. "With.... me?"  
  
"Of course, pharaoh-sama. All six of us, not including Seth's father Akunadin," she added, nearly spitting the word Akunadin. "Me, Mahado the magician, and his student Mana, that strange girl with blue eyes and white skin, Kisara... and your cousin, Seth, the high priest. Surely you remember all of them?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I remember almost nothing." Something about the description of the priests and priestesses struck home, and he noticed something she'd said casually. Blue eyes? White skin? Was there a connection here? And Seth? A cousin of his? The name sounded so familiar....  
  
"You mean you don't even remember your father, Akunumkanon?" Nakte said, eyes wide and a little sad. Just a little.  
  
"My father?"  
  
"Yes, Pharaoh-sama. He died when you were sixteen. An amazing pharaoh, that man. Nearly forty when he died. Pretty long, eh?"  
  
Yami considered this last; Yugi had said once that he'd heard of a Middle Kingdom pharaoh named Tutankhamen who became pharaoh at nine and who died at eighteen. Yami knew that he'd "died" young, too, at least nineteen. "I guess so," was all he could manage.  
  
"It was a sad day when Akunumkanon-sama died, because you were in Israel purchasing slaves for your father's tomb, and..." she trailed off.  
  
It suddenly struck Yami that Nakte remembered everything. She even remembered the first letter of his name! He needed to keep track of her. "Nakte..." he said. She looked up. "Why don't you come to my house and spend the night? My hikari and yours seem to do well together." (A/N: I just noticed that I wrote "it suddenly struck Yami" twice! Ergh. -_- How original.)  
  
"I'm not sure.... I don't know my hikari or her body all too well... but if you command me, pharaoh-sama, it will be so," she finished decidedly, getting up and trying to balance in Sakkira's high shoes. In her mind link, she asked Sakkira why she wore such footwear.  
  
\I don't know, I just like it....\  
  
/Well, at least you have good clothing taste, unlike most hikaris I know..../  
  
\Er, Nakte....\ Sakkira began hesitantly, \you don't know any hikaris.\  
  
/True, but just go along with me, alright?!/  
  
\Okay....\  
  
/Oh, before I forget. Pharaoh-sama requests my presence at his house./  
  
\Just tell my father. Better yet, give me my body back.\  
  
/I could, if I knew how..../  
  
\Ask Yami.\  
  
/Who?/  
  
\The pharaoh dude.\  
  
/Mind your mouth, commoner,/ Nakte said threateningly. Sakkira shut up.  
  
"Pharaoh-sama...?"  
  
"Please, call me Yami." The pharaoh was staring off into space, perhaps inwardly conversing with his hikari, too. "What do you want?" he asked, smiling at Nakte curiously.  
  
"My hikari needs permission from her father to go to your dwelling," Nakte started. "but she needs control of her body back. And I don't know how to give it to her."  
  
"Well, just release hold, kind of. Do you need a demonstration?" Yami asked. Nakte hesitantly nodded. "Okay then. Hold on to my arm, so you can feel it."  
  
She obeyed -- what choice did she have? -- and she felt carefully as she got hold of his arm. Yami's brows knotted together, and then relaxed as he released control. She felt his muscles relax entirely, and then flex slightly as Yugi took control. She released his arm, and he looked at her, big, innocent purple eyes into narrowed yellow eyes.  
  
"What happened to the pharaoh?" she asked quietly.  
  
"He went back into the Puzzle, well, kind of. He's watching though," he added, smiling. "Did you understand how it's done?"  
  
"Well, a little..." she trailed off again.  
  
"Try it, you'll have to let her take control eventually," Yugi said. Nakte noted that the blonde streaks in the violet crest of hair he had were gone.  
  
"Okay, but it might not work." Nakte paused, concentrating; she spoke to Sakkira.  
  
/Do you think you know how to do this?/ she asked. Sakkira mentally shrugged.  
  
\Doesn't seem hard, like waking up maybe.\  
  
/Okay, let's try it./  
  
Nakte relaxed, bit by bit, as Sakkira's spirit surfaced and started creeping back into control; she noticed that as she let go of the body that it felt as if she were being shoved out. She got less and less aware of Sakkira's body, and Yami saw that as the last thread of Nakte's control broke, her mohawk fell down and became mere highlights. The crook and flail on her collar disappeared, and on her arm reappeared the mighty head of the Red Eyes. The "S" on her Millennium Brace shifted back into an Eye. Her eyes had closed as Nakte surrendered control of them, and now they opened, red once again. They shifted from side to side, looking around, and stood up straighter. When Nakte had let go entirely, she had slumped, typical for a first time.  
  
"Erghhh.... why do I feel like I got hit by a truck?"  
  
"You are just tired from having the feeling come back all at once," Yugi replied, as if he'd done it a hundred times before. (A/N: He probably has.)  
  
"Okay..." she said slowly, before realizing she was standing up. "You know, it probably would have been safer if that woman wouldn't have left my body standing up on a stair like this," she said sardonically.  
  
"Nakte. Her name is Nakte," Yugi said, reminding her. Sakkira nodded.  
  
"Well, I have to go and get my father now. I don't suppose I should tell him about my yami yet?"  
  
"Wait until you have a lot of time to explain. He'll probably understand better than most, him being able to read a lot of heiroglyphics and stuff."  
  
"Actually, no one really knows how to read them all that well. Daddy's like a little kid reading a book, in that he just looks at the pictures and says what it's about," she said, smiling." Seeing how the ancient Egyptians tied their entire writing system in with pictures, that makes it a whole lot easier."  
  
"I know what you mean," Yugi said. "I've seen some before, and I couldn't read it, but I saw some familiar pictures."  
  
"Anyway," Sakkira said quickly, changing the subject, "I'll be right back. Daddy!" she yelled, once she was inside. Yugi stayed outside.  
  
A few moments later, she returned, carrying a bag with an assortment of Egyptian writings on it. "Daddy said I could come."  
  
"What does the bag say?" Yugi asked in pure curiosity.  
  
"It's a legend; I'll read it to you later." (A/N: Yes, she can read them better than her father. What do you expect, she's the reincarnation of a priestess.) "By the way, who is your big brother?"  
  
"Er," Yugi stammered. "Well, actually... I don't have one. Yami and I just felt the tug of your Millennium item, and we needed to see it. So we kind of had to lie to get you to show us..." he said, embarrassed.  
  
Sakkira laughed. "Oh, that's funny," she said. "But, don't feel bad. I understand why you had to do it. I woulda done it too," she added, smiling and pointing at herself. Yugi smiled, relieved. This girl was exactly what he'd hoped she would be.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )----------------------------- At Yugi's house....  
  
Sakkira unpacked a few of her things to show Yugi, many of them being artifacts. Probably little 'tomb trinkets', as she called them, Yugi thought. She smiled at him and sat down on his bed, beginning to brush her hair.  
  
"Hey, Sakkira," Yugi began, looking at his new friend, "how did you get those highlights?"  
  
"Oh, these?" Sakkira said, fingering the cerulean hair that stood straight up in a mohawk whenever her yami took over. "Ancient dye recipe. I was the guinea pig. Fortunately for Daddy, I liked it."  
  
"Yeah." Yugi smiled, opening his drawer and getting out his pajamas. "We need to go to sleep early tonight, because tomorrow, you will be going to my school."  
  
"Oh yeah, that's right," Sakkira said, coming out of her reverie. "Where am I sleeping?"  
  
"Um...." Yugi thought for a moment. "Whenever my mother visits, Grandpa has a room downstairs for her. I guess he'll let you use it," he said.  
  
"Okay then," Sakkira replied simply. "I'm going to ask him. Good night."  
  
"Good night, Sakkira."  
  
Sakkira opened the door. The hallway was dark, but fortunately her roaming hand found the light and turned it on. She came into the kitchen, where she found Sugoroku raiding the fridge. She stood there for a moment, waiting for him to notice her. No such luck. Finally she interrupted. "Sugoroku- san?"  
  
His head popped out of the refrigerator and he smiled when he recognized her. "Oh, hello, Sakkira. You need anything?" he asked, and Sakkira noticed the lightning-shaped bangs in the front of his gray head of hair. Must run in the family, she thought.  
  
"Only a place to sleep, Sugoroku-san."  
  
"There's a room right down the hall, near Yugi's," he replied. "Let me show you."  
  
Sugoroku led her into the room. It was next foor to Yugi's bedroom, and it was small and comfortable. The carpeting was lush and a sandy color, and the walls were white. There were artifacts all over the desks and nightstands. "Sorry about all the Egyptian stuff," he said. "These are the things that the museum didn't want, and so I got them."  
  
"Oh, that's quite alright," she assured him. "Didn't Yugi tell you? I'm from Egypt," she said, revealing her Millennium Brace. "Yugi said this thing was special, and I believe him. You have got to see it!"  
  
Sugoroku was quiet, staring at the Brace. "Another Item...." he said quietly. "It's silver! How rare!" He looked around the room. "I guess you won't mind these things, huh...."  
  
"No, of course not," she replied, "the real question is, will you mind it if I put my 'trinkets' in here for now?" She showed him her heiroglyphics- emblazoned bag. When his eyebrows raised, she went inside and sat on the bed. "Come look." She undid the zipper, and showed him the contents; among them were gems and jewelry the likes of which the museum would have absolutely loved. "Being an archaeologist's daughter has its perks, huh? I brought these to show Yugi," she added. "He looked interested."  
  
"I see why," Sugoroku said, amazed at the beautiful treasures. "Are those pharaoh's jewels?"  
  
"Some are, most are not," she said. "We found this one in the tomb of a nameless pharaoh, the same one they found my Brace in." She raised up a small statuette of someone who looked suspiciously like Yami. "It's a rare find, the pharaoh's likeness. Many of them were stolen by tomb robbers, and the mummy was never found. But there were about seven of these, and I got hold of one."  
  
"Wow," Sugoroku said. "That looks like Yami." She nodded. "Well, better go. Good night."  
  
"Good night, Sugoroku-san."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ergh.... I must have been really tired when I wrote all this, because it is REALLY boring once she gets to Yugi's house.  
  
Bradcorh: It's just unoriginal, mistress.  
  
Gee, thanks, Bradcorh.  
  
Bradcorh: ^_^'  
  
....Anyway, review peoples! And remember, the next chapter will probably take longer to write! 'Kay, bye! 


	4. Chapter 4: The New Discovery

Now for chapter 4! Holy weenies! Chapter 4?! w00t! *sorry, I was raised on message boards*  
  
Bradcorh: -_-' No more sugar for you, mistress.  
  
You don't own me!  
  
Bradcorh: And you don't own Yugioh. But you do own this story and me, and....  
  
Aw, thank you, you just did the disclaimer, you clever monster! ^_^  
  
Bradcorh: ^^' Kay..... anyway people just read!  
  
Note: This chapter is being used for a test to see if I can make it italicize with HTML. If it doesn't work, then there will be annoying HTML marks where it is supposed to italicize all this chapter. iLike this./i  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
The next morning....  
  
Sakkira slowly awoke, becoming aware of a knocking at the door. "Mmmm....?" She curled up in the bed, and then she remembered where she was. She sat up. "Who is it?"  
  
"It's me," came a small voice. "You need to get up and have breakfast."  
  
"Yugi?"  
  
"Yeah. Come on," he said. "You can get dressed, but hurry up. Grandpa's not going to wait forever."  
  
"Erm.... okay, then," she said groggily, staggering out of the bed. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, she found the uniform that the school had mailed her when she was still in Egypt. She despised it, but she had gotten a boy's uniform just to avoid wearing one of those abominable skirts. (A/N: A little shout-out to Stori there...)  
  
Behind her, she felt a strange sensation. She turned to face the slightly taller, more tanned form of her yami, Nakte.  
  
"So, we finally meet face-to-face," she said, her voice echoing a bit as she was in spirit form. She looked rather intimidating, that is, until she smiled. Sakkira finally relaxed.  
  
"Yes," Sakkira said. "By Ra, you look just like me!"  
  
"You are my reincarnation," Nakte replied cooly, "so it seems that it is you who looks like me."  
  
"True," Sakkira replied shortly. She got her uniform on, strangely not afraid to take off her pajamas in front of the Egyptian woman. "Have you met Yugi's...er...."  
  
"Yami?" Nakte asked, finishing her sentence. "Of course I have, he's my pharaoh! And anyway, I talked to him yesterday."  
  
"Oh. That's right," Sakkira said. She put her hand on the doorknob, and felt Nakte dematerialize and return to her Brace, whose Eye flashed slightly and grew warm.  
  
As she entered the kitchen, she whiffed bacon. Her mouth watered. "Oh.... I love bacon! Where is it? I haven't had bacon in SO long!"  
  
Yugi, who was sitting at the table, smiled and pointed to the plate on the counter. "It's almost ready." Sugoroku was cooking, and he waved to Sakkira and beckoned for her to sit down. She obeyed.  
  
The spirit form of Yami leaned against the wall, immaterial and invisible to all but Yugi. Perhaps Sakkira could have seen him too, if she had known to look. Sakkira's own yami materialized behind her, and quickly took note of the pharaoh standing nearby. She smiled, and greeted him with a gesture that Yami figured was very polite in ancient Egypt. He waved to her, also smiling slightly, and she came nearer.  
  
"Hello pharaoh-sama," she said happily.  
  
"Hello, Nakte," Yami replied. "Sleep well?"  
  
"Yes, I did. I've been in limbo or whatever so long I'd forgotten what sleep was like," she said. "That is what it was, wasn't it? Limbo?"  
  
"Perhaps you could call it that," Yami said, shrugging. "Have you ever tasted this bacon stuff? It's fried pork, and it's possibly the most delicious, artery-clogging breakfast food known to modern man."  
  
"Looks good, ahhh, smells good, too." Nakte's mouth was beginning to water, and the expression on her face was remarkably similar to that of her hikari's.  
  
As the hikaris ate, the yamis looked on and savored the taste of it. (They could taste it as well.) Nakte was amazed at the deliciousness of the bacon, but she didn't get enough time to remark to Yami before she was forced to return to the Brace, since Sakkira was leaving the house to go to school.  
  
When Sugoroku's pickup truck arrived at the school, Yugi thanked him for the ride and led Sakkira into her class. She was in the same class as Yugi, and a bunch of his friends' as well. She interacted well with most people, and the teachers, who albeit were not too fond of her exotic style, quickly came to like her. She was exceptional in English class, and did well in History too, even though they were doing American history, which she did not know all that much about. All in all, she didn't think the school was all that bad. She just wished she knew a little more American history. (A/N: _ Pathetic. That last paragraph was PATHETIC. -_- ;; Argh... I couldn't think of anything else to say! Don't kill me! *hides*)  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
At lunch, many of the students got together and had small tournaments. Yugi didn't enter this one, since he'd practically been banned for being "too good", but it didn't stop him from watching. Sakkira watched beside him, Nakte in her spirit form in the middle, when suddenly they all noticed a tall figure across the courtyard grounds.  
  
Yugi didn't say anything, but waved to him as he roamed closer. When Sakkira finally noticed who it was, a shock ran through her from Nakte. She was momentarily gripped with some invisible hand as Nakte, not meaning to be rude but in a state of hurried shock, spiritually shoved her aside and took control of her body. She stepped forward, Yugi not knowing it was not Sakkira because she didn't assume her own appearance. (A/N: Yes, she can control Sakkira's body without actually transforming. It's hard, but with a little guidance from Yami and Yugi, they had finally mastered it. On the bus, that is.) Only her voice had changed. It was deeper, but still feminine, and it was rich with the sound of confidence and royalty. She yelled out loud to the person who was watching the numerous duels going on.  
  
"PRIEST! PRIEST SETH!"  
  
Several people looked at Nakte curiously; Yugi finally noticed the way "Sakkira" was holding herself and realized that her yami had taken over. He went to her side, looking at her. It was definitely not Sakkira looking out of those eyes; they were not the curious friendly eyes of the girl he knew, no, these eyes were fiery, brave, and... something unreadable was in them. She was yelling at... Yugi started when he realized who it was she had directed her call to. It was Seto Kaiba!  
  
"Seth!" Nakte ran to Kaiba's side, looking him straight in the eye. "We meet again! How long has it been?"  
  
"And... who are you?" Kaiba was confused, but he still looked as stern as ever. "I don't know who you are. Now get off me."  
  
"Drop the act, Seth. The servants have all died, and I have long past seen through that arrogant tough-guy show you put on in public. We're all alone now," Nakte said, touching Kaiba's forearm gently. He recoiled and drew back, away from this strange girl.  
  
"My name is not Seth," he said, brows knotted. "It's Set-- er, Kaiba. You will remember that, and not call me that abominable name again." He was flushing madly, angry at himself that he had almost revealed his first name. Only Mokuba was allowed to call him Seto.  
  
"Have you forgotten, Seth? Why are you acting this way?" She was stopped by Yugi, who touched her shoulder. She turned around, looking at him. "What? What did I do?"  
  
"Sak... er, Nakte...." he said quietly, leading the reluctant priestess away, "That's not Seth, whoever he is. He's known as Seto Kaiba, but he likes to be called just Kaiba. Okay?"  
  
"What? But he is the very image of the Pharaoh's cousin, the high priest Seth!"  
  
"Maybe.... he's that guy's reincarnation," Yugi suggested. Suddenly a look of horror ran across his features at what he'd just said. That meant... Yugi and Kaiba were cousins! He looked at the tall, brown-haired duelist, who was currently "remarking" on an amateur duelist's style, and tried really hard to see himself in Kaiba's face. He didn't see it, so he tried to see Yami in his face, since Kaiba was always scowling, and Yami almost never looked all happy. Perhaps, just barely, he could see a faint trace of resemblance in the mouth, the jawline....  
  
Yugi shook his head violently, trying to get the thought out of his head. Nakte was still staring fixedly at Kaiba, who felt her gaze and began to stare back, as if she were from the moon. She finally looked away, and turned to Yugi, looking rather sad. "Yugi!" she pleaded, "Why doesn't Seth remember me? I know that it is him, no one could look so much like him and not /I him! Has all that much time really passed?"  
  
"Nakte," Yugi said, sighing exasperatedly, "that is not the same person you are thinking of. Everyone in Domino has a past life in Egypt, so, maybe Kaiba was that guy in his past life."  
  
At that moment, Nakte was in such a state of confusion that she lowered her defenses; Sakkira saw this as an opportunity and snatched back control. As she opened her eyes again, she scowled. "Don't EVER use me without asking first!" she screamed out loud at the now-dormant Nakte. Some of the tournament-goers had paused their games to stare once again at her. She looked slightly embarrassed, then she scowled at them too, asking "What are you looking at, punks?" until they resumed their games.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
Once they were back at Yugi's house, Sakkira began to pack up, preparing for her homecoming that evening. When she had left her house the day before, she had borrowed her father's deck.  
  
Yugi peeked his head into the door of the room Sakkira had slept in. "Sakkira, how would you like to--" He stopped when he saw her father's deck in her hand. "Oh! I thought you didn't have a deck!"  
  
"I don't," she said, smiling sheepishly. "This is my dad's."  
  
"Let me see." Yugi quickly sat down beside Sakkira on her bed and shuffled through her cards; there were many dragons. It wasn't a bad deck at all. "Nice," Yugi said. Sakkira smiled.  
  
"I know, my father has been playing even longer than when we lived in Egypt."  
  
"Wanna see mine?" Yugi offered, reaching into his pocket.  
  
"Sure, I guess," Sakkira replied. Yugi handed her his treasured deck. She went through it, pausing a moment to look at his Dark Magician. "What a beautiful monster," she said, gazing at it in wonder. "My dad's always wanted a Dark Magician."  
  
"It's my soul card," he responded, hinting that he wouldn't trade it.  
  
"I see." She finished going through his deck, and went back and drew out the Dark Magician again. "It's so pretty...." Suddenly she looked startled, and the card fell from her hand to the floor as she let out a gasp. Yugi retrieved his card and looked at his friend in confusion. She was blowing on her hand, as if she'd touched a stove and burned it.  
  
"What's wrong, Sakkira?"  
  
Sakkira, who still looked very surprised, looked at his Dark Magician with brows knotted. "That card...." she paused, as if to gloss over her sanity for a moment before continuing. "It got really /i all of a sudden! It burnt my fingers!"  
  
They both stared at the card for a moment, when Yugi as well was burnt by another flash of heat from the card. This time they let it lay on the floor, not afraid to pick it up but rather curious as to what was wrong. To their surprise, the card's image began to shimmer and quake. Within a moment, the form of the Dark Magician of the card was visible, becoming more and more physical by the second. His eyes were closed, but he still looked as alert as ever.  
  
The two teens stared first at the card, then its inhabitant, then each other. Yugi noticed that Sakkira's Millennium Brace was glowing.  
  
"Look, your Brace!" he whispered, pointing to her arm. She looked at it, and then her eyes widened as she caught sight of the shining Item on her arm.  
  
"D'you think.... that it's the Brace that's doing.... that?" she asked, looking back at the solidifying Magician.  
  
"I.... don't know," Yugi replied quietly.  
  
The Magician was now completely solid, and Yugi looked at him hard. He was even more real than his duel disk hologram. Was it possible that the Millennium Brace had the power to enflesh monsters, to make them /I?  
  
His eyes opened. They were amazingly blue, and they shifted from side to side. He looked at Yugi, and his eyes widened. "Master..." he said, once he tried to speak. "what has happened? There is no duel here." He looked below him; at his feet stood what was once his card. It now stood empty, a blank card. He looked nervous.  
  
Yugi slowly stood up, taking in the full height of the Magician. He gently took the card out of his hand, looking at it. There was no sign that a monster had ever inhabited this card; it was fully clean.  
  
Suddenly a memory surfaced: a tall, elderly, platinum-blonde-haired Dark Magician, looking with slight scorn in his red eyes as he studied a younger, normal-looking Magician. He spoke with his mind.  
  
i/Do you have a name?/  
  
/No,/ the younger, inexperienced Magician replied, /I have never been in a duel before./  
  
/A monster's first duel determines his name,/ he replied./i  
  
He remembered what that memory belonged to; it was the one called Nico, and the younger Bradcorh, discussing naming monsters. It had been almost three months since he'd seen either of them. He wondered where the winds of Destiny had blown them.  
  
Yugi looked at his Dark Magician. "What is your name?" he asked him.  
  
"I am not sure you can pronounce it, master," the Magician replied. Just what Nico had said... Yugi thought.  
  
"Try me."  
  
"My name," the Dark Magician said, "is Drayunis." (A/N: That's pronounced "Drah-you'-nis", mortals. ^_^)  
  
"Ghidaran," Sakkira repeated quietly. "What does it mean?"  
  
"It means 'loyal servant'," Drayunis said sheepishly.  
  
They stood quietly for a moment.  
  
"Well, want some burgers?" Sakkira said finally, changing the subject and lightening the mood at the same time.  
  
Yugi smiled, somewhat relieved. "Sounds good," he said. "You're cooking."  
  
"Burgers?" Daryunis asked, before he was led out of the bedroom. Yugi pocketed Drayunis' once-card, and the matter was soon forgotten as they ate their lunch.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
Yes! Yet another cheesy Magician name!  
  
Bradcorh: ^_^ I was in this one!  
  
Yep! I couldn't help but name this guy, I could NOT stand going through two chapters with a main character (at least for the moment) being known as "the Magician" again!  
  
Bradcorh: It was a pain. -_- I was on the verge of rice threats when she named me.  
  
RICE?!!! WHERE?!! *hides behind Bradcorh* Thank you, Bradcorh, for wearing such huge armor! ^_^' ....Annnnyway.... I know, I've named far too many monsters to be healthy, but I couldn't help it....  
  
Bradcorh: Only three, mistress.  
  
Three is a crowd. ^^' Not really. I have a lot of friends.  
  
Bradcorh: You just can't see them!  
  
.-_.- *glares at Bardcorh* You better be glad that you're wearing that big- arse helmet, magic boy, or I'd have to use your wand....staff....er,whatever the crap you call that thing, against you.  
  
Bradcorh: *clutches staff protectively* Mine!  
  
O.o Er.... anyway, review please! ^_^ *points and whispers behind hand* Pssst! It's - down - there!  
  
Bradcorh: Review it already, or she'll get mad! All our lives are in jeopardy when she gets mad! 


	5. Chapter 5: Ryou's House

Hey peeps! ^_^ You all ready for chappie five? Holy Ra! I didn't realize we were all the way into chappie FIVE! @_@  
  
Anyway, this chapter is where it all starts coming together. Before now, it's been kind of blah, (except for the Seth incident-- a friend of mine really liked that... XD) but here is where Bakura is introduced! And also, there's a hint of yaoi. X_X Dang it Akutenshi! You made me like yaoi! XD It's really subtle, but it's still there. It's just a side element, though; the real story should be appearing in the next couple of chapters. X_X This chapter was hard and it took like two weeks to write. I'm gonna rest now.  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
*The next morning*  
  
RRRIIINNNGGG! Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin as he was jerked awake by the telephone ringing. He glanced at the clock; it was nearly nine-thirty! He'd slept very late! He heard his yami chuckle inwardly as he fumbled around blindly, feeling for the phone.  
  
Finally he found it. "H-Hello?" he slurred groggily into the speaker.  
  
"Hello there Yugi. It's Ryou. I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" the snowy- haired British boy asked, concerned.  
  
"Yes, but that's all right, Ryou, I was sleeping too late anyway. Thanks for wakin' me up." Yugi paused to yawn.  
  
"Alright then. Listen, Yugi, Bakura and I were wondering... d'you think you could come over to our house today?" Ryou asked.  
  
Yugi thought about it. "I think that sounds good, as long as my Grandpa says okay," he decided.  
  
"Great! Cheerio then, and don't forget to ask your grandpa," Ryou said, sounding a little bit hurried. Yugi could hear Bakura's faint voice ranting in the background about lunch. Before Ryou hung up, Yugi heard him yell, "It's only now time for breakfast, you crazy Tomb Robber!"  
  
Yugi smiled and hung up the phone. After that snow incident last winter, (A/N: Read my one-shot [so far anyway.. he he] called "Stop and Smell the Copper" to read that incident spoken of here.) Ryou and his yami had gotten to know each other more and had become nearly as close as Yugi and Yami themselves.  
  
He heard breathing behind the couch he'd slept on. He leaned over the back of the couch to see Drayunis, slumped in what looked like an uncomfortable position and fast asleep. Yugi was curious to know why he hadn't stayed in the bed Yugi had loaned him.  
  
"Drayunis..." Yugi whispered. The Magician stirred, opening one cyan eye to peer up at Yugi.  
  
"Mmm... Yes master?" Drayunis mumbled.  
  
"Why didn't you stay in the bed?"  
  
"I did not feel comfortable straying too far from my master, and so I slept here." Drayunis gestured to Yugi's deck, which was on the coffee table beside him. "They wanted to come too."  
  
Yugi was silent for a moment. "Um, okay. Well, anyway, do you think you could care for yourself today? Because Sakkira and I are going to Ryou's house today, and I want to introduce you to all my friends at once, not one at a time."  
  
"I won't smash anything, master." Drayunis smiled.  
  
"That sounds like a good idea."  
  
Yugi smiled in reply and climbed the stairs to Sakkira's borrowed room. He rapped softly on the door, and heard a soft snore coming from the other side of the door. He tried to open it and found that it was locked. He gave a defeated sigh and was about to turn around to go wait for her to get up, when suddenly he was face-to-face with the spirit form of Nakte. (A/N: Since Yugi has a powerful yami, he can see others as well. Just filling you in. ^_^') She smirked, looking him in the eye.  
  
"Hey, kid," she drawled in Yugi's head. "You trying to wake up Sakkira? That's a feat even I couldn't pull off."  
  
"Oh. She's that heavy a sleeper?" Yugi knew that it was hard for a hikari to resist a yami's "wake-up call", which involved a very loud noise and seizing control of the hikari's legs to try getting him or her up. He sweatdropped. "Um... I suppose I'm going to have to wait, ne?"  
  
"That's right." Nakte grinned; Yugi noted that she seemed rather unpriestessly (A/N: Is that even a word? @_@) this morning. He thought that she would have a royal air, but perhaps the morning and the just-being-brought-out-of-millenia-of-limbo had had an effect on her.  
  
Yugi felt his yami stir within him. /Is that Nakte?/ he sleepily queried. (A/N: He went back to sleep after that phone call. *shrugs* Go figure.)  
  
\Yes it is,\ Yugi replied. \She seems.... off today.\  
  
/Maybe it's an Egyptian thing to not be a morning person..../ Yami mused.  
  
\I doubt it,\ Yugi responded, thinking logically. \The Egyptian sands get very hot in the afternoon, so travelers would want to do their barefoot work early.\  
  
Yami was silent, and Yugi could almost hear the gears whirring in his yami's genius mind. /That sounds reasonable./ He paused. /But you know, Nakte and I probably didn't have to do much 'barefoot work', as you call it.../  
  
\That's kind of obvious,\ Yugi joked, \look at you both! You're so pale!\  
  
/You're one to talk,/ Yami shot back, mentally grinning; he and Yugi usually argued like this in the mornings just to get their minds going for the rest of the day.  
  
\No, I'm two to talk.\ That got Yami laughing. Yugi grinned to himself. (A/N: I saw that on someone's bio. I liked it. :D Sorry if you don't want me using it, just let me know if you don't....)  
  
He realized that the priestess spirit was staring at him. He brought himself back to the physical world, and focused his eyes on her. "Hello, Nakte."  
  
"Were you conversing with the Pharaoh?"  
  
"Yes, I was," Yugi said, smiling. "We were having a nice little 'verbal duel'." He laughed quietly. "That's just what we do in the mornings to get ourselves awake."  
  
"I see." Nakte suddenly turned her head. "Sakkira's waking up. Now would be an excellent time for you to knock on the door, before she decides to hibernate some more." Nakte smiled at him, then disappeared, retreating into the Brace for the day.  
  
Yugi waved to Drayunis as he opened the door, leaving. He heard his grandfather calling from the hallway to have a good time, and he replied, "I will, Granpa!" (A/N: I'm sorry peeps, my plot bunny ran away and so I'm having a hard time progressing... -_-)  
  
Sakkira followed after him, also waving goodbye to Yugi's Dark Magician. Drayunis waved in return and as the door closed, Sakkira caught up with her tri-color-haired friend.  
  
"Where did you say we were going?" Sakkira asked pleasantly, in a good mood this morning. She had had a very good sleep, and a good breakfast as well; now she was ready for anything.  
  
"To Ryou's. He's got a yami too, you know." Yugi didn't look at her when he said this; he acted as if it were a perfectly natural thing for someone to have their soul split into two personalities, light and dark, and the dark being a good few thousand years old. "I might want to warn you, though..... he's kind of, um... a murderous tomb robber, let's put it that way." Yugi looked at Sakkira this time, smiling sheepishly.  
  
Sakkira couldn't say anything. She stared at Yugi, no longer following him, just staring at the back of his head. "You're serious?!!"  
  
Yugi glanced back at her. "Why not?" He was smiling as always. Sakkira mentally shrugged; there was no way someone could lie with a look like that on their face.  
  
/You doubt your friends?/ It was that voice again. The one in her mind. Nakte, she was called. Sakkira hoped she remembered how to use this... mind-link.  
  
\I doubt everyone once in a while,\ she shot back. \Right now I'm doubting myself, in that I'm talking to someone who lives in my mind.\  
  
/Not lives,/ Nakte protested calmly. /I died some time ago./  
  
Sakkira rolled her eyes, and abruptly caught sight of Yugi, looking at her with that same friendly smile on his face, but this time it carried an air of knowingness. (A/N: Again, not sure if that's a word. _)  
  
Sakkira decided to change the subject. "Anyway, Yugi..... how far does Ryou live from here?"  
  
"Oh, not far, but we're catching the bus." Yugi looked ahead, at the city before them. "Hey! Here's one now!" He picked up his pace, traveling at a half-run down to the city bus. Sakkira hurried to catch up, but soon overwhelmed Yugi in her desert-adapted stride. "Sakkira!" he called, half teasing. "Your legs are longer than mine, remember? I can't run that fast!"  
  
"Nonsense, Yugi, this is a desert run," Sakkira stated, slowing down just a bit to be level with Yugi. "It's good for traveling long flat distances in one go. You try," she added, gesturing at her legs. Yugi noted the placement of her feet and the long strides that were all a part of the desert run.  
  
"I don't think I can...." Yugi said, and then he was saved by the bus appearing in front of them. "Nevermind, Sakkira, the bus is here."  
  
Barely an hour later, they paid the bus driver and got off, Yugi looking around for Ryou's house. When he found it, he pointed it out for Sakkira.  
  
"Ah, yes," she said, half-distracted by who-knows-what on the other side of the street. "There it is..." She had barely looked at it. Yugi sighed, exasperatedly rolling his eyes, and half-led-half-dragged his older friend down the sidewalk toward the house.  
  
They were met at the front steps by Bakura. He got Sakkira's attention. She bowed good-naturedly but said nothing, forgetting herself and simply staring. Bakura frowned at her. "Is she a retard or something, Yugi?" he asked. He no longer had much of a problem with Yugi; it was only Yami he had a grudge on, but he was still his hateful old self.  
  
"No," Yugi said, waving a hand in front of Sakkira's face to no avail, "but I think she's coming down with something. She's not usually this way..." he concluded, a quizzical look on his face.  
  
Sakkira suddenly came to. She snapped to attention, looking Bakura full in the face. "Who are you?" she demanded, and for a moment Yugi feared her yami had taken control, but looking in her eyes he found his answer. There were always two souls in the eyes of someone with a yami, but you could always tell which of the two was dominant, even if they didn't assume their own form. He sincerely hoped Nakte didn't remember Bakura.  
  
Bakura stood up and met Sakkira's gaze, now not even four inches from her. They were the same height, Yugi noticed as the two Egyptians stared each other down. Sakkira's gaze, however, was friendly. Bakura's was wary and not entirely revealed by his features alone. His true feelings sort of emanated from him rather than were expressed on his face. "My name is Bakura," he growled softly, though not angrily. Yugi thought that this was a lucky start for Sakkira. She didn't seem to be worried by his gruff nature at all. On the contrary, she seemed to be entranced by it.  
  
Sakkira was simply stricken. Having Bakura's face so close to his own... she noticed with a little surprise that she thought Bakura was absolutely beautiful.  
  
Suddenly her Millennium Brace grew hot and throbbed on her wrist. Alarmed slightly, she checked the mind-link to find boiling rage coming from Nakte.  
  
/WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!/ Nakte bellowed mentally. Sakkira physically winced, earning a smirk of satisfaction from Bakura who thought she finally feared him. Coming out of her mental trance for a moment, she shoved Bakura in the chest, pushing him slightly backward. The smug look on his features was replaced with indignant surprise. Sakkira noticed subtly how thin and bony Bakura's chest felt.  
  
\What??\ Sakkira said, exasperated at her other half. \What are you so mad about?!\  
  
/You idiot!/ came the half-unintelligent reply. /That's BAKURA! Touzoku-oh! King of Thieves! Happy now?!/  
  
\I knew that,\ Sakkira said indignantly. \Yugi told me. So what? He also said that he's not as bad since that thing that happened last winter.\  
  
/Well, near-death experience or no, he's still Bakura, and you've no idea who you just shoved!! Are you trying to kill yourself?!/  
  
Sakkira was brought out of her mind-link trance again, but his time to the feel of Bakura's hand smacking her cheek. She glared at him, rubbing the offended cheek, and Bakura allowed a tiny smile.  
  
"What's wrong, mortal?" Bakura mocked. Even in his own form, he was still considered a spirit, and he had all the abilities he always had as an immaterial ghost. "A little slap too much for you?"  
  
That was it. Blushing furiously, Sakkira hauled off and smacked him back. Yugi erked, looking from Sakkira, to Bakura, and back again. Bakura looked thunderous. Sakkira suddenly realized her mistake, and, enduring a mental tongue-lashing from her yami, helped the fallen-in-surprise Bakura up. Bakura looked ready to start a war, but a call from within the house stopped him. It was his hikari, Ryou.  
  
"You're lucky my hikari wants me right now," he hissed at Sakkira before stalking off to meet Ryou in the house.  
  
"Does... that mean we go inside now?" Sakkira asked, her blush subsiding and a red hand-mark appearing on the left side of her face. She appeared not to notice.  
  
"Um.... yes," Yugi said decidedly, a little confused and not very surprised at Sakkira's retalitation. She was a new friend, but already Yugi could see taht she let nothing stop her from getting her own way. He went carefully inside, followed by Sakkira, and was met by the scene of Ryou severely scolding Bakura.  
  
"Haven't I told you countless times NOT to wait at the front of the house when I'm expecting company?!" Ryou was saying, rather loudly, hands on his hips like an angry housewife.  
  
Bakura rolled his eyes, and Sakkira could almost see everything Ryou was saying go in one ear and out the other. "Okay, vessel, I won't do it again. Happy?"  
  
"You say that EVERY time!" Ryou shot back.  
  
"But I didn't mean it before," Bakura replied passively.  
  
"You say THAT every time too!" Ryou said, exasperated. He took off the gloves he'd been using to wash dishes (and washing Bakura's dishes was hard work, since he ate so much when in his own form, because he loved to eat and he took advantage of the fact that he was a spirit and couldn't gain weight) and, tossing them on the counter, slumped playfully into Bakura's lap. Bakura looked at his light, an odd look on his face, but Ryou only grinned up at him. Bakura gently shoved him off, smiling privately, and looked at Sakkira.  
  
"Now.... why did you say you were here, again?"  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
There! See? I did it! See the yaoi? *points to the yaoi* It just came to me when I was writing that paragraph. :D I've got nothing against yaoi, but I never intended to write it... but this brings a whole new element to the story. Hmm.... Sakkira likes Bakura, but he likes Ryou, or at least it seems he does.... what will arise? Here's a hint: The Millennium Brace can only enflesh the holder's monsters, or monsters of someone she enjoys being around. Ohohoho!! (I saw that on someone's sig at deviantart. XD) Reeview please peeps! ^_^ ~kyo REVIEW HERE!!!! ^_^  
  
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	6. Chapter 6: The Great Dragon

The Millennium Brace - chapter 6  
  
Geez. I'm such a slacker. Haven't updated this thing, or even worked on it, in FOREVER. Oh well..... school's out now, thank Ra, and I'm finally getting to the good part of the story! No yaoi this time, really, unless you look reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hard. :D Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. I do, however, own: Sakkira, Nakte, the Millennium Brace, this story, Oasis Dragon of Kuruelna, and Y.O.D. Fwah. Hey! I own more things than I don't!   
  
/yami to hikari/  
  
hikari to yami  
  
Oasis Dragon mind-speech  
  
:Y.O.D. mind-speech:  
  
---------------------------( (o) )-----------------------------  
  
"..and that's my favorite," Ryou pointed out, stopping Bakura's shuffling through the cards in their deck. He pulled a magic card out of the stack. "See?" he said, holding it up for Sakkira. "The Change of Heart."  
  
"Ooh... that's cool-looking," Sakkira remarked. "I remember a tablet with that picture on it."  
  
"I'm not surprised," Bakura cut in gruffly. Ryou replaced the card and his yami continued to go through the deck. At the end of it was a card unfamiliar to Sakkira.  
  
"What is that card?" she asked, beholding it with awe. It looked very powerful. It was a massive bronze-colored dragon, with glowing red eyes, gigantic wings, and spikes going all the way down his chest. On the top of the card was emblazoned the words "Oasis Dragon of Kuruelna".  
  
"It's my favorite card," Bakura said, allowing a small smirk to cross his features. "Take a look." He offered it to her. She took it, and noted the brown color of the card - an effect monster. There was a large number of stars, ten, Sakkira counted. Wow. Underneath the picture the card read like this:  
  
The guardian of ancient Egyptian city, this dragon has an almost unstoppable attack and defense.  
  
There was an effect and a description, how odd, Sakkira thought.  
  
This monster can attack three monsters at once. Once per turn, this monster can raise its ATK and DEF by 3000. When this effect is activated, this monster cannot attack for three turns and must be in DEF mode.  
  
To Sakkira's surprise, the small writing went on to suggest that Kuruelna was a Ritual monster.  
  
This monster can only be summoned when the card "Kuruelna Burning" is on the field. You must also sacrifice three monsters whose ATK equals this monster's level x 100.  
  
Sakkira couldn't speak for a moment. "Wow," she finally said. "That is one powerful card."  
  
"Let me see," Yugi interrupted. He'd been sitting next to them the whole time, but Sakkira was too busy looking at Bakura to notice. He took the card from Sakkira's relenting fingers and read it, eyes widening. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a card that hits this hard before." He stared at Ryou and Bakura. "Where did you get this?"  
  
Ryou looked rather exasperated. "He stole it," he muttered, giving his dark a sour look. Bakura bared his fangs in a wolfish grin, and then nodded at the others.  
  
"Well... it's a very good card. Worth stealing, I suppose. How come you've never used it in a duel before, Bakura?"  
  
Bakura shrugged. "It's supposed to be a secret, says Ryou," he muttered, jabbing his thumb at Ryou, who grinned and nodded in a "guilty-as-charged" gesture. He put a finger to his lips, performing a classic hikari "it's a secret but only to annoy my yami". Yugi laughed to himself. (A/N: Ra this is boring. It's boring to write, it's boring to read. 99 Action please!)  
  
Changing the subject, Bakura stood up suddenly and growled, "Lunch time." Ryou, agreeing, followed after Bakura, who was walking away and shoving his deck in his pocket.  
  
---------------------------( =(o)= )----------------------------- (New icon! OO)  
  
Having rounded up the lunch, Ryou decided that they would eat outside in the pleasant weather that day. Yugi's yami took his own form, so he could eat, (although Nakte stayed quiet - Sakkira wondered about that) and after grabbing a blanket, they headed out.  
  
Suddenly Sakkira tripped over the blanket she was carrying, falling on top of the hapless Bakura. There was a thud, an "Oof!" and a clang. The clang came from Sakkira's Brace banging into Bakura's copy of the Ring. It didn't hurt either Item, but both hurriedly checked for dents.  
  
Bakura glared at the girl. "You did that on purpose!" he accused.  
  
Sakkira looked up at him "I did not!" she said indignantly. "I tripped over the blanket, that's all!"  
  
"Liar!"  
  
"Argh!!"  
  
Bakura stood up, brushing himself off, when suddenly he felt his deck tremble in his pocket. Brow furrowing in confusion, he pulled it out, looking at the Oasis Dragon of Kuruelna card. He stumbled back, dropping it, when it shone with a bright light and grew hot like the Egyptian sands in summer.  
  
"B-Bakura?" Ryou stammered. "What's wrong with the card...?"  
  
Bakura didn't answer, only stared at the card, whose penetrating light shot high, high up into the heavens in a single beam. Looking back at Sakkira for a moment, he noticed that the Millennium Item on her wrist was glowing.  
  
Yugi and Yami noticed this at the same time Bakura did. Yugi started. "Sakkira--! Your Brace... it's glowing like when my card..!"  
  
Startled by Yugi's interjection, Sakkira looked down at her arm, eyes widening on the sight of the glowing Brace. "Like when that thing happened with the Dark Magician!" She looked up into the sky. "Oh no... this card is much too powerful... and unruly--!!"  
  
Her gaze was followed by all the others' as a great, brassy below resounded from the sky and powerful bronze wings beat loudly against their ears.  
  
---------------------------( =(o)= )-----------------------------  
  
I am..... born again. No longer trapped within that prison. Hah... I can avenge my city now... like the pharaoh stopped me from doing so many years before....  
  
Great red, diamond-shaped eyes glowed and tiny white pupils whirled madly in their sockets.  
  
Wait! A pause in the descent. Kuruelna is... gone! Where am I? There is so much green! Egypt is no more!  
  
A frustrated, strained roar erupted from a throat whose veins pulsed with blue-black blood for the first time in millennia. Great bronze wings beat loudly and another bellow escaped the dragon. He swooped down upon the fools who released him and who brought about their own doom.  
  
---------------------------( =(o)= )-----------------------------  
  
Brown, purple, crimson, and red eyes widened as if they were but a single pair as a humongous dragon swooped down upon them. Yugi and Yami had to dive out of the way of the great talons. Sakkira whipped around and stared at the great beast as he lit on the roof of Ryou's house, the shingles sliding off and the beams groaning under the weight.  
  
Smooth-skinned and bronze in color, the dragon's hide looked thick and tough to beat. Not surprising, with a defense of 3500, she thought cynically, observing the baleful red eyes glaring at her. Flaring off the dragon's head were two rows of horns, with three in each row. The ones over the forehead were much larger than the ones over the nose. Behind the larger horns rose a crest of semi- tansparent flesh shaped like a brightly-colored flame. It almost fooled Sakkira for a moment.  
  
The long, almost graceful neck craned around as the dragon swiped its head from side to side, showing off. All down the front of its body were white, bony plates, with a spike at the end of each. Underneath the skin rippled strong, differently-arranged muscles. The body was long and garceful, tapering off just behind the hind legs to craete a long, flowing tail, tipped with spikes in a row. Large, almost unproportionate wings and blue "cuffs" on the dragon's arms completed the look of "I'm tough and very powerful".  
  
Thrusting its small head forward, the beast screeched and beat its wings, lifting itself into the air and flinging itself toward them again. Ryou shouted; he'd been raked by the flailing dew-claw of the right hind foot. Not badly enough to bleed, but it was painful.  
  
Instead of turning and sweeping over them again, the great dragon Kuruelna thrust itself forward, heading toward the city. Yami stood up, eyes widening as he noticed the direction it was headed. "We have to stop it!" he shouted. (A/N: Well duh Yami.)  
  
---------------------------( =(o)= )-----------------------------  
  
He landed almost gracefully, barely noticing the building splintering beneath him. He saaw tiny figured screaming and running wildly among his feet, like ants to an elephant, and plucked one off the ground. He raised it to his eyes, having to cross them in order to focus. Four extremities, stringy, no tail, a relatively small head, no neck that he could see.... strange bits of stuff over its body. Hehuffed in its scent, sendnig the human into a spin and increasing its screams. It smelled like smoke. He tossed it in his mouth, first rolling it on his tongue, delighting in its screams of mortal fear, then almsot gently placed it between his teeth -- and crunched.  
  
What a nice sound hese humans made when they were smashed into little pieces, the Oasis Dragon thought. He decided to follow these tasty, although small, morsels - and that led him into a maze of black strips of.... what? It didn't matter, he thought, as long as he could remove these obstructions. He lashed his spiked tail out, catching a building and ripping off a good fifteen stories. He leaned down, almost toppling over, and caught five or six of the falling humans in his mouth while they were still alive. He liked his meals to squirm.  
  
The Oasis Dragon paused in his rage across the city. He looked at the ground, which, due to his great height, was very far away. He could use a smaller, more nimble dragon with all his strength and cunning. He stalked to the side of the city (much to the citizens' relief) and, with a great howling and ripping of flesh, tore a piece of his calf off. Blue-green blood dripped down his leg, but it quickly healed over (Oasis Dragon's defense being 3500) and stopped hurting.  
  
He slashed the flesh, and with the magic in his claws, it began to take shape. His bronze, shining, scaly flesh became a more goldish-yellow color. It became oval in shape, and from the back it sprouted two red-membraned wings. A white horn grew out of the elbow of each wing, not unlike the Oasis Dragon's own. From the front of the piece of flesh suddenly thrust an appendage, something that the Oasis Dragon could only guess was its head. He was right; two large horns burst out the back of it, and the rest of the head quickly formed. It had a narrow muzzle, with two amazingly long tusk-like teeth in its mouth, like its parent's. Instead of three small horns on its nose, there was one long one, and it was the same color as its skin. The eyes, though closed, were obviously much bigger compared to its head than the Oasis Dragon's crimson, fiery, narrowed orbs. He could care less, though; if this young dragon wished to be cute in appearance, then the foolish humans would never see it coming.  
  
The arms had taken form partway after the head had started, and now they were finished; simple, only two fingers and two thumbs, but with gigantic claws, almost taking up the entire finger space. Six hard plates not unlike the Oasis Dragon's ran down his throat and to his chest, but not as far down as the original's.  
  
The rest of the young one's body was simple, the tail being long and covered at the tip with long, extremely thin, bone spurs. The Oasis Dragon tapped one of the spines and it dripped with venom, which landed on his paw. He licked it up (being invulnerable to his own body fluids) and decided that it was very potent. Yes, this Young Oasis Dragon was worthy.  
  
He set it down. At first, it lost its balance, but then it stood up and opened its large, sharp, green eyes. It looked at its father questioningly.  
  
You are called Yod, young one, the Oasis Dragon stated.  
  
:Yod?:  
  
It stands for "Young Oasis Dragon"  
  
:I see. Well, father, what have you created me for?:  
  
Oasis Dragon pointed to the city. Kill them.  
  
---------------------------( =(o)= )-----------------------------  
  
Wee! I'm finally done! My mom says I can't put floppies in her computer as long as the virus is still there, but I don't rreally care! The foppies are not carrying the virus, so as long as I don't get it, I'm still going to do it. While she's not around of course. :P See, Umbra? I do have a rebellious side once in a while.  
  
Review people! Or Yod will bite you! rubs Yod's extremely long fangs, cutting her thumb Owch! sucks thumb Mmm..... B positibve... :D  
  
glomps ff.net people for letting her use italics FINALLY 


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